Tag: craft

  • New opening hours

    The studio is now open for the summer. Opening hours for the studio are 11am to 3pm on weekdays, and by appointment. Call +64 (0)224 058 526 or send an email to make a date to come in. Something from the studio collection is on display in the window, and there is art to look…

  • Mana

    During the activism years of the 1970s Pacific and Māori voices were given a platform through print. Mana was a publication that highlighted societal issues while, at the same time, promoted identity and cultural values. During its short run – July 1977 to May 1978 – the paper relied on voluntary support and an editorial…

  • Āhuataka

    An intriguing exhibition at the Centre of Contemporary Art in Christchurch Ōtautahi is just about to end its run. Āhuataka is an exploration of Māori woven adornment. The small exhibition space in CoCA has on display artefacts from the Canterbury Museum; taonga tupuna (ancestral treasures). These are grouped together with contemporary art from practitioners who…

  • A reader contributes

    This week a reader from South Africa has sent in a Facebook link to “Architecture of Return“, an artwork of the floor plan of the British Museum on a blue deer hide, along with symbols for the artefacts that are held in the Museum’s collections. This piece references the hide paintings that convey histories across…

  • Compuknit

    A recent addition to the studio collection are two packs of vintage Compuknit from 1974. Compuknit was a system for knitting garments. These two packs were published, under licence from Wolmark, South Africa, in Salisbury, now Harare, in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The packs contain pairs of discs that each have a moveable rotating back. In…

  • New items for the library

    The studio library continues to grow. Keiskamma Art Project is based in the village of Hamburg in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Established by the Keisakamma Trust, an organisation with the aim to “build healthy communities in all respects”, there are four strands to the work of the Trust: Art, Music, Health and Education.…

  • Shae Bishop – ceramic cowboy

    Shae Bishop is a ceramic artist who uses his discipline to create distinctive costumes. Based in Virginia in the USA, the artist works with clay to make portraits through clothing. His pieces cross-over between tiles and textile, making the wearer both invincible and vulnerable. Check out more of the artist’s work here and read an…

  • A working loom

    This week the loom in the studio is finally weaving! Over the past few months we (a friend who is an expert in all things to do with looms and me) have been working to get this loom running. It was used by a designer from Gisborne who kindly donated it to the studio and,…

  • Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

    Zeitz MoCAA is carved out of old grain silos on the quayside of Cape Town’s docks and features the contemporary art of Africa. One Must Be Seated is a multi-disciplinary show by Ghanaian-American artist Rita Mawuena Benissan of her Ghanaian culture. Reimagining the royal umbrella and stool that represent Akan chieftaincy through tapestry, video, photography…

  • Bulawayo

    A trip to Bulawayo in September 2025